From today’s Gospel (Luke 19:41-44): ‘Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you – and all because you did not recognise your opportunity when God offered it!’’ Jesus’ warning for the city of Jerusalem is a serious one. He speaks about death and destruction. No building will be left standing and all people, including children, will be dashed. But why all this? Why is Jesus our loving Saviour telling us about these terrible things? Can’t he just make it go away?? We have free will, and the best use of that free will is to love and trust in God. We have every opportunity to open ourselves to God yet, each time we turn from him, we are opening ourselves up to sin and opening up to the devil’s ways and this will inevitable bring death and destruction. The devil will pounce on every opening to bring about bad things for us; things that will eat away at our relationship with the Creator. So Jesus, in his warning, is telling the people of Jerusalem what sin will bring to the city. Yet we have the chance to avoid this death and destruction by loving God and trusting completely in His divine plan for each one of us. |
